Good or bad advice?

[azstu324]

In light if the recent MGS ball testing:

 

So I'm at a large sports retailer looking through golf balls to see if any sales peaked my interest. As I'm looking, an elderly lady walks up next to me and asks "which Titleist balls are the best?" Not realizing the loaded question she just asked.. and who she was asking, I then asked who they were for and what skill level they played at. She then answered it was for her son's birthday who just started playing and he wanted Titleist because they're what the pros use. (Not a full discussion that I needed to get into..)

 

So I then proceeded to show her different versions of Titleist that we're lower priced. Knowing that her son really wouldn't be able to unlock the full benefits/potential of a pro V1 or V1x, and that he'd likely be cycling through a $45 box in just a handful of rounds I told her that I wouldn't recommend going straight for the pro V's. She then asked me what I would get for someone like him and I pointed her to my gamer ball (TM project(a)) (could have been a number of different brands and models) but I gave her my honest opinion because she asked.. and they were on sale for $25. She took my recommendation.

 

Questoon: Should I have let it be and pointed her to the pro V's or did I do a good thing by pointing out a good ball that wouldn't have been a waste of her money?

 

the more I practice, the luckier I seem to get..

 

 

[revkev]

You did fine

I think would might have asked if she had a budget because receiving a box of Pro VIx’s would be a cool gift for a kid getting into golf.

But your answer was sound, reasoned practical advice.


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[00sportsman]

I'm not sure you could have done any better. She's able to get him twice as many solid balls for the same money that way.

It does beg the question of what's the best cheap beginner's ball? I'm sure there's a thread somewhere, but I'm too lazy to search for it at the moment.

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[SteddyGolf]

I think you were spot on. A mid level ball would seemingly be the best answer.


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[PlaidJacket]

I probably would have handed her a doz PV1. She wanted to gift her son not fit him into a ball. I'm guessing since you said the lady is elderly her son is rather old too and not a kid. But either way IMO it doesn't matter. A $50 gift is just that; a gift. Same thing if she wanted to buy her son a football like the pros use. You wouldn't recommend a rubber ball since he's not an expert. Sometimes us forum members take thing too serious. I feel sorry for the guy not getting a very top of the line ball. He would have been thrilled. Hopefully old mom won't realize the was talked into a cheaper model. Sadly the son will.

[tony@CIC]

I'm not sure you could have done any better. She's able to get him twice as many solid balls for the same money that way.

It does beg the question of what's the best cheap beginner's ball? I'm sure there's a thread somewhere, but I'm too lazy to search for it at the moment.

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When I started out I was buying Slazenger balls by the dozens because I lost them as fast as I bought them.


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[tony@CIC]

In light if the recent MGS ball testing:
 
So I'm at a large sports retailer looking through golf balls to see if any sales peaked my interest. As I'm looking, an elderly lady walks up next to me and asks "which Titleist balls are the best?" Not realizing the loaded question she just asked.. and who she was asking, I then asked who they were for and what skill level they played at. She then answered it was for her son's birthday who just started playing and he wanted Titleist because they're what the pros use. (Not a full discussion that I needed to get into..)
 
So I then proceeded to show her different versions of Titleist that we're lower priced. Knowing that her son really wouldn't be able to unlock the full benefits/potential of a pro V1 or V1x, and that he'd likely be cycling through a $45 box in just a handful of rounds I told her that I wouldn't recommend going straight for the pro V's. She then asked me what I would get for someone like him and I pointed her to my gamer ball (TM project(a)) (could have been a number of different brands and models) but I gave her my honest opinion because she asked.. and they were on sale for $25. She took my recommendation.
 
Questoon: Should I have let it be and pointed her to the pro V's or did I do a good thing by pointing out a good ball that wouldn't have been a waste of her money?
 
the more I practice, the luckier I seem to get..
 
 

The bigger question is where did you find the Project (a) on sale????


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[Shankster]

The bigger question is where did you find the Project (a) on sale????


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Target had them for $18 a dozen here a while back. I saw them, left, came back a day later and they were gone.

[SmoothG]

I would have handed her a box of ProV1s since the kid specifically requested a box of the best Titleist for his birthday.  I know best is subjective but if the kid has Titleist on his wishlist and Taylormade show up he may be disappointed even if they are a better fit for him.  

I know when my kid wants a certain gift, if we decide to get it for her I'd like to get her the exact one she requested.  

[chisag]

... The amount of people I run across on a golf course that say they are playing a Titleist but have no idea which one or even worse, say they are playing a ProV1 Velocity and ProV1 DT is mind boggling. For a beginner the Project A is a great choice. It is just silly to give a gift that the recipient cannot appreciate on the course. Now a high index player that can't break 100 but has been playing a long time may appreciate some ProV1's as a gift, if just to have played them once. But not a beginner. I think you made a perfect suggestion.  

Edited June 1, 2019 by chisag

[azstu324]

3 hours ago, chisag said:

... The amount of people I run across on a golf course that say they are playing a Titleist but have no idea which one or even worse, say they are playing a ProV1 Velocity and ProV1 DT is mind boggling. For a beginner the Project A is a great choice. It is just silly to give a gift that the recipient cannot appreciate on the course. Now a high index player that can't break 100 but has been playing a long time may appreciate some ProV1's as a gift, if just to have played them once. But not a beginner. I think you made perfect suggestion.  

Yeah in the moment, this was my exact logic. The fact that his mother didn't know the specifics of which Titleist he was wanting more or less told me that he didn't know the specifics.

A while back I was golfing with my pops who is a decent and avid golfer but completely oblivious to brands and models of equipment.. that's ok because I'm nearly hyper obsessive and can't expect others to understand how my brain functions. He asked me to get something out of his bag and I noticed a wild mix of Titleist ball models. I asked him why he was using so many different models.. he kind of gave me a blank stare and said.. "well I've seen you use them so I got a box of 100 from Amazon for cheap". I'm guessing that out of 100 he might have gotten 5 pro V1s and never knew if he'd used one. To him a Titleist was a Titleist. He recognized the brand but didn't really "know" the brand. Truth be told, I may have used a Pro V only a few times but most other times I use the TM P(a) but it was Titleist that he recognized. I then gave him a Pro V1 to use and explained the difference.. within about 3 holes he said.. I should have called you before I bought that box. Even then I talked him out of anything Titleist and convinced him to try the K-sig balls. Now that's all he uses. Even after he understood the difference, I knew that him or his game wouldn't benefit anything from spending more money on fewer balls.



the more I practice, the luckier I seem to get..
 

Edited June 1, 2019 by azstu324